Images from The Beede
Gallery

Short-Necked Lute (Robab, Rabab), Afghanistan, 19th Century

NMM 1504. Short-necked lute (robab, rabab), Afghanistan, 19th century (left). Constructed like NMM 1502, but smaller, with one drone and nine sympathetic strings in addition to the five playing strings. The larger robab is generally used in Afghani art music. The smaller instrument is typically used for the regional music of the Pashtun people. The robab migrated south into India in the mid-19th century, where it eventually developed into the modern sarod, one of the primary instruments of Hindustani music. Ringley Fund, 1977.